Dutch Expand Euthansia Laws

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Dutch Expand Euthansia Laws

The Dutch government intends to expand its current euthanasia policy, setting guidelines for when doctors may end the lives of terminally ill newborns with the parents' consent. The new guidelines, known as the Groningen Protocol, are likely to spark an outcry from the Vatican, right-to-life proponents and some advocacy groups for the handicapped who abhor the current policy that allows adult euthanasia if the patients request it and if certain conditions are met. Proponents and opponents agree the change is doubly important because it will provide the model for how the Dutch will treat other cases in which patients are unable to say whether they want to live or die, such as the mentally retarded or elderly people who have become demented. Under the protocol, euthanasia would be permissible when a child is terminally ill with no prospect of recovery, when it is suffering great pain, when two sets of doctors agree the situation is hopeless, and when parents give their consent.– Associated Press